NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING
5/6/95
1. IWGP & UWA Jr. Titles: Koji Kanemoto (IWGP) vs Shinjiro Otani (UWA)
Kanemoto hung Otani upside down in the corner and gave him a couple kicks and a dropkick as footage began. Otani fought back with a spinning mule kick and a great springboard missile dropkick. Otani then hit a springboard plancha on Kanemoto. After a couple counters, Otani German suplexed Kanemoto for a near fall. Otani gained another near fall with a top rope huracanrana. Kanemoto countered a dragon suplex attempt and gave Otani a spinning enzuguiri. Kanemoto then dropped Otani with a released German suplex. Kanemoto hit a top rope moonsault, a second rope corkscrew senton and a tiger suplex in succession for a heated near fall. Otani dropkicked Kanemoto from behind and gave him a dragon suplex for a near fall. Both men slapped each other hard and fell simultaneously. Both men dropkicked each other. Otani missed a spinning kick and Kanemoto gave him a dragon suplex for the pin at 18:05 (4:41 aired) to unify the titles. It’s a travesty only 25% of this match aired, because it looked like the usual **** fare you would expect from these guys.
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Takashi Iizuka
Iizuka dropkicked Tenzan before and after the bell. He hit Tenzan with Tenzan’s stretcher of sorts and whipped him into the barricade. Iizuka took the fight into the crowd where he assaulted Tenzan with a chair. Later in the match Iizuka briefly applied a sharpshooter and then applied a figure 4 leglock on Tenzan. Both men rolled out of the ring with that hold and Iizuka maintained the hold as they tumbled to the floor. Back in the ring Iizuka gave Tenzan a top rope superplex for a near fall. Iizuka hit a bulldog and two urunages. Tenzan countered a third and landed a couple chops, but Iizuka recovered and gave him a third urunage for a near fall. Tenzan blocked another urunage attempt and hit a short lariat. Tenzan gave Iizuka a spin kick and a Samoan drop of sorts for a near fall. Tenzan hit a top rope headbutt and pinned Iizuka at 10:48 (5:59 aired). After the match Tenzan moonsaulted Iizuka. Definitely a good match, although I’m guessing what didn’t air wasn’t great because Tenzan hadn’t emerged as a great worker yet. **1/2
3. Masa Chono & Hiro Saito vs Shinya Hashimoto & Manabu Nakanishi
Hiroshi Hase came to ringside to do color commentary for this match. Chono blew off Nakanishi and demanded to fight Hashimoto. Hashimoto didn’t come in so Chono tagged Saito. Saito got the better of Nakanishi early. Nakanishi blocked a sunset flip attempt but Chono gave him a yakuza kick. Nakanishi suplexed Saito and gave him a swinging stranglehold. Tempers flared and Chono whipped the ring announcer into the barricade. Saito DDTd Nanakishi as Chono had a standoff with Hase at ringside. Nakanishi fought back and tagged Hashimoto. Nakanishi gave Saito a top rope foot stomp as did Hashimoto. Hashimoto hung Saito upside down in the corner and both faces attacked Saito. Tenzan got into a fight with I believe Iizuka at ringside and they fought to the entrance. Back in the ring Chono got the better of Nakanishi. Chono dominated Nakanishi as they fought in the crowd and back into the ring. Saito gave Nakanishi a senton for a near fall. Chono gave Nanakishi a yazuka kick for a near fall but Nakanishi fought back. Hashimoto elbowsmashed Chono for a near fall and attacked his right arm. Nanakishi also attacked Chono’s right arm but Saito intervened with a kick. Chono fought back and Saito suplexed Nakanishi. Saito elbowed Nakanishi for a near fall. Nakanishi sunset flipped Chono for a near fall. Hashimoto and Chono finally squared off, and Chono won out by backing Hashimoto into the heels’ corner. Hashimoto fought back and slammed Saito. Nakanishi hit a top rope dropkick on Saito and a double arm suplex for a near fall. Nakanishi elbowsmashed Saito for a near fall but Saito fought back with a low mule kick. Chono headbutted Nakanishi low and Tenzan whipped Nakanishi into the barricade at ringside. Back in the ring Chono whipped Saito into the corner with a corner splash on Nakanishi. Chono gave Nakanishi a yazuka kick but Nakanishi fought back and tagged Hashimoto. Hashimoto flattened Saito with a roundhouse kick and gave both opponents a double DDT. Tenzan interfered but Hashimoto got the better of him with a spin kick. Chono went for a yakuza kick but Nakanishi moved and Chono hit Saito instead. Nakanishi applied a torture rack on Saito but Chono intervened with a kick. Nakanishi caught a charging Saito and gave him a dangerous backdrop. Nakanishi charged towards the corner but Chono met him with a high kick. Chono applied an STF on Nakanishi but Hashimoto intervened. Tenzan threw Hashimoto out of the ring and attacked him but Kensuke Sasaki then attacked Tenzan and whipped him into the barricade. Chono atomic dropped Nakanishi and made him submit to an STF at 17:30. The entire match aired. While it was a good, fun match, New Japan could easily have taken five minutes of airtime from this match and given them to the opener. It would’ve made for a hotter show while not taking any momentum away from the main event. ***
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